Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2006/10/26
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Hello Luggers, I don't subscribe to Sean Reid's pay for view review website. I do respect the quality of Sean's reviews which are posted on http:// www.luminous-landscape.com/ - in fact I provided him with some of the RAW files that he used to review the picture quality of the RD 1. That said, I have used the preproduction M8 that Leica passed to Tom A for assessment and I also attended the Leica Akademi in Wetzlar after the LHSA meeting. It is hard to comment on Sean's report beyond the interpretation provided by BD but my own experience with the camera is that IS0 2500 produces blotchy colour in very low light which needs a lot of post processing. But, turn the ISO down to 1250, use the self timer and set the camera on something steady, open those Leica M lenses wide open, and something quite wonderful happens. You have an image with great clarity, good contrast, and very little noise. I took some pictures in the Wetzlar Dom in this fashion and at the Akademi when we turned them into Grayscale and looked at the grain they were virtually without grain. So, putting my money where my mouth is, I have sold my Canon 5D (best CMOS on the market no doubt - but a dust collector such that Canon gave me coupons for additional free cleanings) and I have sold my RD 1 (with seller's remorse I confess. We should all be grateful forever to Epson for having produced the RD 1 - thus forcing Leica to produce the M8 in the (almost) timely fashion that is was done). I am certain, based on my own experience, that when the M8 is sold with finalized software it is going to produce spectacularly good images. I stress that in my case both my cameras used early (and imperfect) software. Perhaps someone with a subscription to Sean's site can fill us in on what model of 'ware his camera was using. Yours skeptically Howard (in Hong Kong)